I am going to use this thread to explain some of my core beliefs and to attempt to explain why I think I have them. I welcome people to question my beliefs.

Nihlism.

I give myself the label as a "nihilist". Nihlism has many many different meanings however to sum mine up is I do not believe that there is a meaning to life. I think duality (right and wrong) are social constructs that cannot exist independently from us.

Why?

To keep a complicated answer as short as possible you have to think objectively and you have to look at the past, the present and the future. If you took somebody from 35 AD, 245 AD, 900 AD, 1200, 1800, 1900, and today and examined what is was that they believed about life and their very own existence their answers would be completely different. Now include yourself in that train of thought and future generations. The relatively short story of our existence is dwarfed by the universe "beginning" and getting on with its shit well before we arrived and will continue to carry on with its shit if we were here to witness it or not. I even think that as we evolve and break down our understanding of the universe more and more it will not lead any closer to an "answer"

The universe existed before "why?"

For no matter how much I use these symbols, to describe symptoms of my existence.
You are your own emphasis.
So I say nothing.

Okay, I'll question a few times. It's more just asking questions, because I think I may be a nihilist.

How does being a nihilist affect your outlook on life? Does it darken or lighten it? How do people react to you if you've explained to them that you're a nihilist? Could you offer help in a way to a person who thinks they may also be a nihilist, but aren't fully aware of what a nihilist consists of and if they qualify as one?

Thanks for posting this and opening another closet full of skeletons for me.

A man blames his bad childhood on leprechauns. He claims they don't exist, but yet still says without a doubt that they stole all his money and then killed his parents. That's why he became Leprechaun-Man

(23-12-2013 12:23 PM)Adrianime Wrote: I agree that right and wrong are socially constructed (and vary from time period to time period, from culture to culture).

*pinches your cheek* Finally, I got to do it.

Total social construct. Murder is bad, but if the government hires someone to clean up someone (brains on wall) it's okay.

Religious construct of right and wrong is considered under the same roof as social construct? Just yesterday the subject of the morality question of a brother sleeping with his biological sister and how people reacted to the question and their reasoning behind it at first usually was based upon religious indoctrination, and when you cut that out of the picture, the most common answer was "Because it's just wrong!".

(23-12-2013 12:16 PM)cheapthrillseaker Wrote: Okay, I'll question a few times. It's more just asking questions, because I think I may be a nihilist.

How does being a nihilist affect your outlook on life? Does it darken or lighten it? How do people react to you if you've explained to them that you're a nihilist? Could you offer help in a way to a person who thinks they may also be a nihilist, but aren't fully aware of what a nihilist consists of and if they qualify as one?

Thanks for posting this and opening another closet full of skeletons for me.

It affects how I see things objectively. I am still me. I still live by my own ethical code however I would be wrong to say that my nihilism may not influence it slightly. An example would be I do not like to see harm done to animals, it would bring out emotional responses in me however If I was to think objectively about the scenario without me included then I would see neither right or wrong. I am still reactionary, my nihilism is more an afterthought.

For no matter how much I use these symbols, to describe symptoms of my existence.
You are your own emphasis.
So I say nothing.

(23-12-2013 12:16 PM)cheapthrillseaker Wrote: Okay, I'll question a few times. It's more just asking questions, because I think I may be a nihilist.

How does being a nihilist affect your outlook on life? Does it darken or lighten it? How do people react to you if you've explained to them that you're a nihilist? Could you offer help in a way to a person who thinks they may also be a nihilist, but aren't fully aware of what a nihilist consists of and if they qualify as one?

Thanks for posting this and opening another closet full of skeletons for me.

It affects how I see things objectively. I am still me. I still live by my own ethical code however I would be wrong to say that my nihilism may not influence it slightly. An example would be I do not like to see harm done to animals, it would bring out emotional responses in me however If I was to think objectively about the scenario without me included then I would see neither right or wrong. I am still reactionary, my nihilism is more an afterthought.

Would you consider that a coping strategy brought forth from nihilism?